Method and machine for making perforated rib fabric



1 w. H. ALLERTON ET AL w2,024,326

METHOD AND MACHINE FOR MAKING PERFORATED RIB FABRIC Filed Aug. 12, 1952 2' Sheets-Sheet 1 Patented Dec. 17, 1935 UNITED STATES METHOD AND MA FOR MARIN CHINE 7 PERFORATED RIB FABRIC William H. Allerton, Norrlstown, Pa., and Harry B. Aaronson, Camden, N. J.,

assignors to H.

Brinton Company, Philadelphia, Pa.., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application August 12, 1932, Serial No. 623,608

7 Claims.

Our invention relates to a rib knitting machine for making perforated rib fabric and specifically to a machine of this character for making a rib fabric with ornamental designs produced by the perforations therein, the perforations being made by transferred stitches and/ or tuck stitches. By the use of our improved machine it is possible to produce patterns which may vary infinitely in their design.

Referring to the drawings, which are made a part of this application and in which similar reference characters indicate similar parts:

Fig. 1 is an elevation in developed form of cylinder needles and cams for actuating them,

Fig. 2, a section which may be considered as taken either on line 2 or line 3 of Fig. l, and

Fig. 3, an elevation of a portion of fabric, showing a design produced on our machine.

In the drawings, reference character I 0 indi cates a part of the fixed frame of a dial and cylinderknitting machine having thereon a ring gear H and a stationary needle cylinder l2 with slots in which are mounted flexible jacks l3 having lugs H at their upper ends for engagement with the tails of needles 15 for elevating the needles, the jacks in this instance being shown as extending up in back of the needle shanks in the needle slots.

The jacks have butts l6 normally riding on jack cams l1, l8 (Fig. 2). For flexing the jacks selectively to cause them to miss the respective jack cams we provide pressers IS in the needle slots, which pressers have frangible butts that can be broken off according to desired pattern to cause the jacks to be flexed selectively by means of levers 2| operated by tricks 22 on a trick wheel 23 mounted on a support 24 fixed to the cam ring, the tricks having frangible butts 25 and the pattern mechanism being similar to that shown in the patent to Ames No. 1,722,989. It will be understood however that other types of pattern mechanisms can readily be substituted for that herein shown for the purpose of selectively controlling the actuation of the needles, such means acting either on jacks or directly on the needles.

A dial 26 is provided with dial needles 21 of conventional form whichmay coact with the cylinder needles l5 to knit a plain ribbed fabric. The cylinder needles, here shown as latch needles otherwise of conventional type, have lateral transfer hooks 28 which, as here shown, have their lower ends secured to the needle shanks at 29 and above this point are bent first laterally at right angles and then are inclined upwardly so that their upper endsextend into notches at 30 toprevent the free upper ends from injuring the yarn. It will be seen from Fig. 2 that if a cylinder needle is elevated to a suflicient degreethe dial needle will pass through the transfer hook below the stitch on the needle and when the cylinder needle is depressed the stitch will be taken off the cylinder needle by the dial needle so as to produce a perforation in the fabric.

Zli'he cam layout for the cylinder needles is shown in Fig. 1 and it includes, in addition to the jack cams, cam 31 on which the butts 32 of the cylinder needles are normally supported, said cam having also at 33 and 34 inclines for elevating the needles, the incline 33 being for the purpose of opening the latches and the incline 34 be- 10 ing for the purpose of raising the needles at a feed, indicated at 34, to tuck level. When stitches are transferred from any one or more of the cylinder needles the latches of such bare needles are liable to remain closed unless some 5 positive step is taken to open them, as by the use of a latch opener or by jarring the needles to throw open the latches. In the instant case a conventional latch opener is applied to the machine in such a position that when the cylinder 2 needles are elevated by cam 33 any latches which are closed will be forced open, such latches being properly only those of bare needles, as the stitches on the other cylinder needles will open the latches at this time.

It is desirable to open the latches at this time in order that they may take yarn at once and hold it for a tuck stitch, since otherwise there would be a float of yarn across the opening to be made in the fabric. The needle elevating cam 35 30 serves to raise to the transfer position all the needles whose Jacks ride up on cam l8, the needles whose jacks have been flexed so as to miss cam I8 passing underneath the cam 35 and remaining in position to be supported by cam 3|. 35 At the transfer position indicated by needle l5a in Fig. 1 the dial needle enters the transfer hook and thereafter (the needles being conceived as moving toward the left in Fig. 1) such needles will be depressed by a cam 31 which pulls down 40 the cylinder needle and this enables the coacting dial needle to take the loop of yarn off the'cylinder needle and leave it bare. It will be noted that all the cylinder needles are shown as having transfer loops and this is preferred although not essential, since the selective control extends to all the cylinder needles so that a stitch will be transferred therefrom at any point or at as many points as desired. After leaving the cam 31 the needles are elevated by cam incline 33 to open their latches and are then again depressed by a cam 38. After passing cam 38 the needles ride up a cam incline 34 to tuck position, if their jacks have been flexed so as not to engage jack cam ll. Any needles whose jacks have not been flexed ride up on a cam 39 to normal knitting position. By this means it will be evident that tuck stitches may be made wherever desired and particularly that tuck stitches may be made on the needles,

whose loops have just been transferred, such needles merely taking yarn and drawing a loop thereof and then taking yarn and knitting off at a subsequent feed or at the same feed on a subsequent revolution of the machine if there is but one feed it being possible to tuck five or more times, if desired, before knitting ofi to complete the tuck stitch. After passing cams 34 and 39 all the needles are caused to knit off their stitches by a stitch cam 40. Between the stitch cam 40 and the elevating cams there is located a nullifying cam M, which cam may nullify the action of the pattern mechanism when raised to dottedline position where it will elevate to knitting level those needles which passed underneath the cam '39..

In the use of our machine the designs may be made by transferring stitches only so as to make relatively small openings in the fabric as at 42 in Fig. 3 and the variety of designs may be increased by following a transfer stitch with a tuck stitch in the same Wale so as to make larger openings such as indicated at 43, details of such a structure in a plain knitted fabric being shown in the patent to Shaughnessy 806,926, December 12, 1905.

It is known to us that transfer needles of generally similar character to those herein disclosed have heretofore been used for making a transfer course in a rib fabric to facilitate the operation of placing a rib top on the quills of a quill ring for the purpose of making a stocking with a rib top or a rib leg and a plain subsequent portion but we are not aware of the use of such devices selectively controlled for purposes of ornamentation. It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that many variations may be made in the instrumentalities herein shown and described and in the method of using them and therefore we do not limit ourselves to what is shown in the drawings or as described in the specification but only as indicated in the appended claims.

Having thus fully described our said invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a knitting machine for making rib fabric with ornamental designs, a series of needles having lateral transfer means, a series of needles coacting therewith to knit ribbed fabric, and selectively acting means for projecting the needles of the first-named set between the needles of the second set to a level where the needles of the second set enter said transfer means and remove the stitches from corresponding needles, in combination with selective needle-elevating means at a feed spaced from such transfer point whereby a tuck-stitch may be made on a transfer needle in conjunction with the transfer operation, thereby enlarging the opening in the fabric.

2. In a dial and cylinder knitting machine, a

series of cylinder needles having lateral transfer hooks, a series of dial needles, actuating means for said needles including means for elevating all the cylinder needles to a level where their stitches are transferred to the dial needles, pattern mechanism for selectively inhibiting the action of said first-named elevating means on the cylinder needles for making patterns in the fabric, means at another point for elevating all the cylinder needles to knitting level, pattern means for selectively inhibiting the action of the secondnamed elevating means, and means for raising to tuck level the needles not elevated to knitting level whereby the aperture due to a transferred stitch may be enlarged by tucking in the same wale.

3. In a dial and cylinder knitting machine, a series of cylinder needles having lateral transfer hooks, a series of dial needles, actuating means for said needles including means for elevating all the cylinder needles to a level where their stitches are transferred to the dial needles, pattern mechanism for selectively inhibiting the action of said first-named elevating means on the cylinder needles for making patterns in the fabric, means at another point for elevating all the cylinder needles to knitting level, pattern means for selectively inhibiting the action of the second-named elevating means, means for raising to tuck level the needles not elevated to knitting level, and means for nullifying the action of said last-named inhibiting means.

4. In a rib knitting machine, cylinder needles with lateral transfer hooks, dial needles, means for actuating the needles comprising a cylinder needle-elevating cam, flexible jacks, a jack-cam normally acting on the jacks to cause them to elevate their corresponding needles to a level whereat a projected dial needle enters the transfer hook of an elevated cylinder needle and removes the stitch from said needle, means for flexing the jacks selectively to cause them to miss the jack cam, a cam for raising the cylinder needles to tuck level at a feed, a cam for raising cylinder needles to knitting level, a jack cam acting on the jacks to raise all needles to a point Where their butts strike said last-named needle raising cam, and means for selectively flexing the jacks to cause them to miss said last-named jack cam whereby the corresponding needles will be raised only to tuck level at said feed.

5. In a rib knitting machine, cylinder needles with lateral transfer hooks, dial needles, means for actuating the needles comprising a cylinder needle-elevating cam, flexible jacks, a jack-cam normally acting on the jacks to cause them to elevate their corresponding needles to a level where a projected dial needle enters the transfer hook of a cylinder needle and removes its stitch, means for flexing the jacks selectively to cause them to miss the jack cam, a cam for raising the cylinder needles to tuck level at a feed, a cam for raising cylinder needles to knitting level, a jack cam acting on the jacks to raise all the needles to a point where their butts strike said lastnamed needle raising cam, means for selectively flexing the jacks to cause them to miss said lastnamed jack cam whereby the corresponding needles will be raised only to tuck level, and a cam adjacent the tuck cam for raising the low needles to knitting level at said feed.

6. A method of making perforated rib knitted fabrics with perforations of different sizes comprising knitting ribbed fabric on two coacting series of independent needles, transferring stitches selectively from one series to the other, and tucking in the next course on selected ones of the needles whose stitches have been transferred to needles of the other series.

7. A method of making rib fabrics with perforations arranged in any desired figure comprising manipulating knitting instrumentalities to knit 

